Horst Lichtner, International Ice Hockey Federation

 

Horst Lichtner is the General Secretary of the IIHF, since 2006, succeeding Jan-Ake Edvinsson.  Mr. Lichtner is also the General Secretary of the Association of International Olympic Winter Sport Federations (AIOWF).

His professional career started as Personal Assistant to the President of the German NOC, Dr Daume and then went on to leading marketing positions in various sports marketing companies in Switzerland (ISL, CWL, TEAM).

In 2001 he joined the German Football Association (DFB) as Marketing Director. Mr. Lichtner became General Secretary of the International Ice Hockey Federation in 2006, only as the third person to assume this role, which is the IIHF’s highest executive position.  

In 2007 he additionally assumed the position as General Secretary of the Association of International Olympic Winter Sport Federations (AIOWF). 

 

Jordi Bertomeu, Euroleague Basketball

 

Jordi Bertomeu Orteu is the CEO of Euroleague Basketball from July, 2000, its Chairman since 2009 and its President since 2011.

In 1982, he became the Legal Advisor and Secretary General of the Spanish Basketball Clubs Association (ACB) and in December 1994, Mr. Bertomeu was appointed ACB Vice-president, a position he held until July 2000, when he was named CEO of the Euroleague.

Under Mr. Bertomeu's direction, Europe’s two major basketball club competitions, Euroleague Basketball and Eurocup, are played annually between the strongest clubs of the continent.

Mr. Bertomeu was earlier member of the “Spanish Governmental Commission of the transformation of Basketball and Football clubs into incorporated sports companies” and also Member of the Executive Committee of the Spanish Basketball Federation for 12 years as well as arbitrator for the Spanish Olympic Committee on the Court of Arbitration for Sport from October 1997.

 

Michael Wiederer, European Handball Federation

 

Michael Wiederer played a key role in the foundation of the European Handball Federation in 1991 and he became the organization’s Secretary General in 1992.

The former handball player from Austria led the historic structural change which saw the EHF take over Handball’s European Cup (today VELUX EHF Champions League) from the International Handball Federation in 1993.
 
The EHF office which Wiederer founded in 1992 and which originally had two employees has grown to a staff of 51, including their in-house marketing agency, EHF Marketing, founded in 2005.

The EHF administers over 730 European club matches each year, with all of its 50 member associations being active within the organization.

 

Frank Leenders, Value Experience

 

Frank Leenders is the co-founder of the sports marketing firm Value Exeperience.

He started his professional career with ISL Marketing during the FIFA World Cup 1990 and subsequently joined start-up company TEAM Marketing in 1992, where he was part of the UEFA Champions League since its very first season (1992-93).

He moved to Rome to join pay Television Sky Italia in 2001, where he was Director of Sports Rights Acquisitions, responsible for the acquisition of all sports related Television rights.

In 2002 he returned to TEAM, where he became Managing Director and was appointed to the Board of Directors in 2005. Following his departure at the end of 2010, he co-founded the independent sports marketing firm Value-Experience. In 2012, he developed a dedicated media and marketing entity for FIBA, the international Basketball Federation in Geneva.

 

Michele Centenaro, European Club Association

 

Michele Centenaro is the General Secretary of the European Club Association (ECA).

Formed in 2008 as an independent association after the disbandment of the G-14 and the European Club Forum, the ECA is the sole independent body directly representing 137 clubs, drawn from every one of the 53 national associations within UEFA.

The association fosters relations between the European governing football body UEFA and its member clubs.

Before assuming the leadership role at ECA, Mr. Centenaro was Head of Club Competitions at UEFA.

The former primary and secondary school teacher is also a former football player at the semi-professional, division-IV level in Italy.

 

Ralph Krueger, Edmonton Oilers

 

Winnipeg-born Ralph Krueger played professional ice hockey in Germany for 13 years and between 1981 and 1986, for the German national team.

He started his coaching career in 1991 becoming the head coach of VEU Feldkirch, Austria, which he led to the sensational 1998 European Hockey League (EHL) championship. Krueger also led Feldkirch to five Austrian and three Alpen-League championships. Between 1997 and 2010, he became the longest serving ice hockey national team coach in the post-Soviet era, leading Switzerland at 12 IIHF World Championships and three Olympics; 2002 Salt Lake City, 2006 Torino and 2010 Vancouver.

Since 2010, Krueger has served as associate head coach with the NHL Edmonton Oilers. Author of the bestseller Teamlife: Over Setbacks To Success (2001). In 1994, he founded the motivational speaking company Teamlife.

 

Timo Everi, European Trophy

 

Timo Everi is the Chairman of the Finnish SM-Liiga club IFK Helsinki and board member of Finnish League. Mr. Everi represents the Finnish clubs on the board of the European Trophy.

Outside of hockey, Timo has gained over 20 years’ experience in a number of sectors, including Telecommunications, Advertising, Retail, Media, FMCG and Sports, as well as an in-depth working knowledge of Europe, the Middle East and the US.

Everi has won numerous awards for his work, including a lifetime achievement award (platinum) from the Finnish Advertising Industry (2002).

 

Anders Ternbom, European Trophy

 

Ternbom is the Executive Chairman of European Hockey Trophy, a 32-team club tourney which includes some of Europe’s major clubs. Prior to that, Mr. Ternbom was the CEO of the EHT between 2010 and May 2011, after which he took over as chairman of the board. Mr. Ternbom came to the EHT from a highly successful 15-year period as CEO of Santa Maria, a European market leader in spices and Tex-Mex food.

He also works as a professional board member for various companies and as a CEO business coach.

 

Alexander Medvedev, Kontinental Hockey League

 

Alexander Medvedev is the President of the Kontinental Hockey League, since its founding in 2008. Mr. Medvedev is also the chairman of the league’s executive board.

Also in 2008, he was elected to the IIHF Council, the federation’s executive body. Mr. Medvedev is also member of the Supervisory Board of the Russian Ice Hockey Federation and involved in the operations of the SKA St. Petersburg KHL-club.

Mr. Medvedev is well-known as Deputy Chairman of the energy company Gazprom and an avid participant in old-timer’s hockey games.

 

Thomas Grimm, Consultant

 

During the last decade, Thomas Grimm was involved in football as President of the Young Boys Bern, of the Swiss Football League and Vice-President of the Swiss Football Association. He is/was member of different committees at the FIFA, UEFA, EPFL and IIHF.

Mr. Grimm started in sports in 1992 as a lawyer in the UEFA Legal Department. In 1996 he joined the Sports and Marketing Agency CWL (today Infront).

In 2002 he left CWL and started as a sports consultant, mainly in football and ice hockey. In 2002 he was appointed by FIFA as the Secretary of the Statutes Revisions Committee and was responsible for drafting the new FIFA Statutes (2003).

 

Christian Feichtinger, Hockey Europe

 

Feichtinger is the President of Hockey Europe, the union of Europe’s top ice hockey leagues. He was elected in 2010.

Mr. Feichtinger has served as the Managing Director of the Erste Bank Eishockeyliga since 2005 and he was involved in the marketing operations of the two last IIHF World Championships organized in Austria, in 1996 and 2005.

His sports career was performed in melted ice – Mr. Feichtinger was member of the Austrian national sailing team 1989 – 1996.

 

Kevin Gilmore, NHL Montreal Canadiens COO

 

Kevin Gilmore is the Chief Operating Officer (COO) of the National Hockey League’s most prestigious club, the Montreal Canadiens. He assumed this position in April 2011.

Before coming back to his home province, the Arvida, Quebec native spent 18 years in various professional sport positions in California. From 1993 to 1998 he was Vice President of Corporate Affairs for Anaheim Sports Inc., owners of the NHL Anaheim Mighty Ducks and the Anaheim Angels baseball club.

Between 1999 and 2006, he was the Los Angeles Kings VP of Hockey Operations, 2006-2009 Senior VP with the Anschutz Entertainment Group’s global operations, incl. venue management and pro sport teams, several of the based in Europe.

Before joining the 24-time Stanley Cup champions Canadiens, Gilmore headed Socal Soccer City Holdings in California.

 

Don Fehr, NHLPA Executive Director

 

Don Fehr was named Executive Director of the National Hockey League Players’ Association (NHLPA) in December 2010, after serving as an advisor to the union for a year.  The NHLPA is the union which represents all players in the NHL.

Previously, Don spent 33 years with the Major League Baseball Players Association (MLBPA), the last 26 of which as its Executive Director.  Prior to joining the MLBPA, Don worked as outside counsel on the landmark Messersmith-McNally free agency case for the union. Under Don’s leadership, the MLB players successfully maintained unity through one lockout and two strikes.

He played an important role in growing the sport of baseball beyond North America, including helping in the creation and development of the World Baseball Classic In June 2009, Don announced his retirement as MLBPA Executive Director.  Don also served for seven years as a Public Sector member of the Board of Directors of the United States National Olympic Committee for seven years.

Don serves as the NHL players' chief negotiator in collective bargaining with NHL owners.

 

Marc Furrer, Swiss League

 

Mr. Furrer became President of the Swiss National League in 2006 and is a Vice President of the Swiss Ice Hockey Federation. He came to ice hockey from rowing where he for eight years (1996-2004) chaired the Swiss Rowing Association.

In his life outside hockey, Mr. Furrer is the President of the Swiss Federal Communications Commission (ComCom) since 2005 and Director of the Postal Regulation Authority (PostReg). In 2006-2007 he was President of FRATEL (the telecom regulation network of the French-speaking countries).

In 2005 he was State Secretary and head of the Swiss Delegation for the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) in Tunis. In 2003 he was responsible for content and organizational preparations for the UN World Summit on the Information Society in Geneva.

Mr. Furrer was instrumental in process of re-structuring of Swiss Ice Hockey into a modern entity where the association and league work under the same elite umbrella.

 

Vladimir Shalayev, Kontinental Hockey League

 

Mr. Shalayev is the Vice President of Hockey Operations of the Kontinental Hockey League, a role he assumed when the KHL was founded in 2008.

In the years 1999-2006, he was Vice-President and Chairman of the Arbitration Committee of the Russian Professional Hockey League (PHL). In January 2006 he assumed the role of Director of the PHL.

Mr. Shalayev has been a member of most of the governing bodies within Russian ice hockey since 2000. As member of the Association of Lawyers of Russia, he is author of numerous publications in the field of sports law.

 

Dmitri Kurbatov, Kontinental Hockey League

 

Mr. Kurbatov is the Kontinental Hockey League’s Chief of Sports and its Event Management Officer, roles he assumed when the KHL was founded in 2008. Among several programs within the KHL, Mr. Kurbatov oversees that league’s junior draft.

Before joining the KHL, he was the Marketing Director of Lokomotiv Yaroslavl. Mr. Kurbatov was part of the organizing committees of the 2000 and 2007 IIHF World Championships held in Russia.

 

Franz Reindl, German Ice Hockey Association

 

Franz Reindl, is the General Secretary German Ice Hockey Association, DEB. From 1992 to 2010, the 181-times German national team player worked as Director of Sports for the DEB, since 2003 also General Secretary. General Secretary of the World Championship Organizing Committees 2001 and 2010. Since 1998 Franz Reindl has been a member of various committees within the IIHF, most notably the Competition Committee.

During his active career Reindl played 669 Bundesliga games for his home club SC Riessersee and SB Rosenheim, scoring 423 goals. Highlight of his career was the Olympic Bronze Medal 1976 in Innsbruck.

As player, coach and manager Franz Reindl participated at 28 World Championships and nine Olympic Tournaments. Reindl received his business training as management assistant in wholesale and foreign trade.

 

Martin Urban, Czech Ice Hockey Association

 

Mr. Urban is he General Secretary of the Czech ice Hockey Association. He assumed that position in 2004 after being the General Secretary of the IIHF World Championship in Prague the same year. Prior to that, Mr. Urban was the Director of Hockey Development with the Anschutz Entertainment Group as well the General Manager of Sparta Prague.

The former Slavia Prague and HC Pardubice player became later head coach on junior national team level (U16 – U18), on division I level as well as in the WHL with the Swift Current Broncos. In the 90s, Mr. Urban worked as a part-time scout with for Toronto, Edmonton and Boston.

He is today also member of the IIHF’s Competition and Co-ordination Committees.

 

Slavomir Lener, Czech Ice Hockey Association

 

Slavormir Lener is the Director of Czech National Teams, a position he assumed in 2010 after returning to his native Czech Republic after working with club hockey in Sweden.

Mr. Lener has been involved in some of the greatest successes of the Czech National Team. He was the assistant coach with the 1996 IIHF World Championship winning team and together with Ivan Hlinka coach of the 1998 team which won Olympic Gold in Nagano. Head Coach of the Czech team in the 2003 and 2004 IIHF World Championships.

He is one of the very few European coaches who made a name for themselves in the NHL, spending three seasons with the Calgary Flames and also four Years with the Florida Panthers, both as assistant coach. After two stints as coach of Czech top club Sparta Prague, Lener spent four years coaching in the Swedish Elite League, with Lulea and Linkoping. Assumed the position as Director/Head Coach of Czech National Teams In 2010.

 
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